The Crimson Flame's Call
The connection encroaching upon my entire soul—I resisted it with everything I had. Yet the link only grew stronger. This was nothing like the Soul Link Ritual. I could no longer cast Urshus aside so easily. After all, as he had said, I had already accepted him once before.
“Caught you, you worthless summoner! From this moment on, I, Antares—Lord Zeka’s most trusted subordinate—shall personally dispose of you!”
In the plains of Brakilmor, we had been ambushed by Zeka and his elite soldiers. Though we had already fought demon commanders and their forces by then, battling Zeka himself alongside over a dozen high-ranking demon nobles was anything but simple.
Bagloros and Orcan fought together, yet even they struggled against Zeka. Medrup, Rowell, and Aegina were equally hard-pressed by the elite soldiers attacking from all sides. Lauti and I had taken on defensive and support roles, but honestly, the summons I could call at the time were of limited use against high-ranking demon nobles.
As the battle grew fiercer, a high-ranking demon noble suddenly charged toward Lauti and me. The others were occupied, and though Rowell and Medrup tried to intercept him, the remaining enemies blocked their path.
Assuming his target was Lauti, I stepped in front of her. Several layers of my equipped barriers remained, and in that moment, what we needed was her, not me. A touch of foolish male pride may have played a part as well.
Then a smile spread across the demon’s lips. The instant I sensed something was wrong, darkness swallowed the space around us, and I found myself standing in a strange, isolated dimension.
No allies or enemies were visible—only me and the demon who called himself Antares. I immediately understood his intent: to isolate and eliminate us one by one. Still, the name Antares—identical to my favorite wine, even if the spelling differed—made me smile despite myself.
That odd coincidence aside, I had, to be honest, largely resigned myself to the overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation. Antares, however, interpreted my expression differently.
“How leisurely. You think you can handle this alone? Quite the confidence.”
He reacted as though gravely insulted, yet he did not end the fight immediately. Perhaps he was wary of me to some degree, but more than that, he seemed to be savoring the moment—likely hoping to watch my face twist with despair and terror.
Though we were in a separate space, summoning was still possible and my mana was not critically low, so I could resist to some extent. But as I had already realized, my current summons could not inflict meaningful damage on a high-ranking demon noble.
Even if my summons blocked his attacks, it was only buying time. From the moment I was dragged into this dimension, the outcome had been decided.
I thought of death then. Of dying alone in this desolate place, never seeing Rowell or the others again. Memories of the past surfaced, along with thoughts of the future that would never come.
Yes. I had known such a moment might arrive the instant I began traveling with Rowell. And in the end, my final act had been shielding Lauti. Even if her feelings would never be returned, I had at least left a small ripple in the heart of the kind, gentle saintess. She would surely weep for me.
Yes. I had fought for the world—alongside the hero Rowell and my companions. That was a life well lived, and a rather fitting end.
My mind accepted this. Yet the emotions that followed were neither peaceful nor beautiful.
Even if I had fought alongside them, had I truly shared the same battles? In this final fight, had I not failed to contribute even a single person’s worth before dying? Self-loathing, anger, and a primal attachment to my own existence surged within my chest.
While my summons held off his attacks, countless thoughts and feelings tangled in my mind. Yet in the end, only one will remained—the strongest.
I don’t want to die.
The moment I realized that single thought dominated my mind, a bitter disappointment in myself rose alongside the memory of one being. The final incantation I had sworn never to recite surfaced once more.
I laughed. I could not say exactly what that laughter meant. Relief? Self-mockery? Mockery toward my opponent? Hope? Affirmation? Denial? Or had I simply lost my mind for a moment? Perhaps it was all of those things.
I laughed. There was no longer any hesitation in my heart. None of my companions could see me now, and petty concerns like victory or defeat no longer mattered.
“…In the unquenchable black flames, in the endlessly blooming crimson flames, the Great One watches over all, for all eternity.”
It was both an incantation and a hymn. Though I had severed the connection during the Soul Link Ritual, the direction of my soul’s thread still pointed toward him. From the moment it first touched him— from the moment we connected—this incantation had been carved deep into my consciousness, never to fade.
“The soul that has reached you calls your name. Along the connecting thread, follow that soul and answer this call.”
Throughout my body, throughout my soul, I felt a connection forming with a distant, immense power. I sensed the flames within my soul stirring. Only then did Antares realize something was wrong and unleash his full strength, but it was already too late.
“…Crimson Flame God, Urshus. Descend upon me now.”
The moment the final words left my lips, an enormous power flowed into me from beyond my soul. My body was soon wreathed in crimson-black flames.
—Yes. You call upon me after all.
Urshus’s satisfied voice echoed not only in my mind but throughout the entire dimension. His overwhelming mana surged through my body, and a sense of exaltation I had never known flooded my consciousness.
This was different from the ritual. Different from merely facing him, different from the slow connection we had formed before. Just like in that vision, there was no fear left in me. The fact that my opponent was a high-ranking demon noble no longer mattered.
Before my flames, Antares’s attacks scattered helplessly. The condescending gaze he had fixed on me gradually filled with terror.
—How insignificant.
“How insignificant.”
Urshus’s voice overlapped with mine. It was not a matter of being swayed by his emotions. My will, my very feelings, had become Urshus himself.
“Y-you… what the hell…?”
The gap in power was absolute. The being who had seemed like death incarnate moments ago now looked like nothing more than an insect. And that realization felt entirely natural.
I extended my hand. The crimson-black flames enveloping my body moved like an extension of my will. If I wished, I could have unleashed high-level spells I had never even dreamed of using before.
But I did not. I used neither flames nor spells. All I did was extend my consciousness—linking my mind to his, just as a summoner subjugates a lower summon.
“Ghh…!”
As the connection formed, his expression twisted in agony. This was the absolute dominion a demon god held over demons. Simply by existing, they forced demons into submission.
The demon who had resisted desperately fell to his knees. I found it strangely satisfying to watch him look up at me with eyes filled with disbelief, terror, and confusion. As despair slowly overtook his mind, I smiled in genuine delight.
—I thank you. Thanks to you, this child has accepted me so completely.
He spoke with sincerity. As he had said, the words of gods contained no lies.
—However…
Yet that was not the whole truth.
—The sin of attempting to harm my proxy is by no means light.
I could see his eyes, his consciousness, being dyed by the god’s will. Unable to even scream, unable to move a single finger, I heard him beg for his life as his soul was crushed. Yet, to my surprise, I felt nothing.
Even his desperate, pitiful pleas and the sight of a powerless weakling before an absolute being stirred no emotion in me. I raised my right hand lightly and flicked my fingers, as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
With a sound far too clear for the moment, crimson-black flames erupted from the ground and swallowed him whole. Even the sturdy body of a high-ranking demon noble could not be instantly annihilated by the god’s flames in their current incomplete state—but no screams escaped him.
Because Urshus—and I—did not permit it.
Antares vanished slowly, still in the same posture, without a single scream, a single groan, or even the slightest struggle. I watched it happen with a smile.
Until every last trace of mana had left his body. Until his form crumbled away, leaving not even ashes behind. In that silence, until even the prayers in his heart begging for a swift death could no longer be heard, I simply stood there and watched.
This version of myself felt both unfamiliar and strangely natural. Disappointing, yet somehow comforting.
Even as countless thoughts tangled chaotically in my mind, my heart—my emotions—were undeniably enjoying the moment.
Overwhelming power. Absolute dominion. Beyond even those, the purity and absoluteness of it all was something no mortal should ever experience. Everything became clear, while pointless conflicts and worries faded into faint traces and distant memories.
—Now, truly bind your soul to mine. Become my true proxy.
Urshus spoke to me once more. Strictly speaking, while I had “accepted” him, I had not formed a contract. The incantation I had recited was merely a means to draw a portion of his power into my body and strengthen the existing connection. It had not made me his proxy.
In terms of a summoner’s contract, this was the stage just before the pact. I had believed that if Urshus truly desired me, and if my life was in danger, he would lend me his power even before a formal contract was made. That was why I had recited the dangerous incantation. And because I had once succeeded in severing our connection during the Soul Link Ritual, I had held a vague confidence that I could do so again.
But that had been nothing more than foolish arrogance. Once accepted, a connection to a god could not be broken so easily. The compulsion was powerful, but more than that, the sense of fulfillment and exaltation that was slowly consuming my entire consciousness and emotions—the immortal purity that felt eternal and unchanging—had already wrapped itself around my very existence.
—Follow me. Your foolish wandering ends here. Save the world with my power. Glorify my name. As my proxy, you shall bask in all that glory.
For a moment, I thought that might be fine. There was nothing wrong with it. Yes. I simply would not create the scenes I had seen in that vision. With this power, I could prevent such things from happening. My companions would trust me. If they were truly my comrades, they would not stop me. In the world I ruled, they would be happy as well.
Carried by that vague belief, I began to nod. I intended to truly bind my soul to his. But at that very moment, a faint crack spread across the entire dimension we were in.
With Antares’s death, the space had become unstable and was beginning to return to the original world. Along with that rift, the connection between Urshus and me also weakened slightly—just for an instant. That was the moment I regained my senses.
And in that brief opening, I poured every ounce of my strength into severing the link with Urshus. He resisted, but upon sensing my companions rushing toward me as the dimension collapsed, he withdrew.